


We are

by g_xlatea



Series: Monsters//Humans [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21501445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g_xlatea/pseuds/g_xlatea
Series: Monsters//Humans [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557280
Kudos: 2





	We are

i.

When the team first saw Momoi, they saw a ditzy and attractive girl; a stereotypical fantasy. They saw someone to lust over, as crass as it sounds. They thought her only value as a manager was being attractive. 

Then they saw the glint in her eyes as she collected data and predicted plays. They saw the mirth in her smile as she broke down the other team, all without getting up from the bench. She was a monster, like the rest of them, and her fangs were bared. 

ii.

Initially, Kuroko was a disappointment. And so was Haizaki. The weakling wanted to join the club and the strong had given up entirely on the sport. Sure, they understood later. Kuroko had every right to be a starter and Haizaki made a damn good manager, not least because he could actually cook. But they did not understand the reasons. 

They only saw the raw unhealing wounds later. When they found out what went down in Teikou, that is when they finally admired the former and accepted the latter. 

iii.

Kise seemed insolent and dumb. His insistence on seeing moves rather than having them explained proved the first. His marks were proof enough for the latter. 

Except of course when they understood, Kise needed to see only once. It drove in after he copied his friends (were they friends?). Recognising that boundless talent meant acknowledging two things. His insolence was sincerity. And whatever his marks, the kids was damned astute. 

No one got by in Teikou by talent alone. You had to understand, the game and the players. The only things that miraculous generation didn't understand was themselves. 

iv.

Midorima was annoying, an outlier even outside her talent. She practiced for longer than anyone but she couldn't grasp teamwork. She appreciated effort but prized talent. 

It worsened after she came out. Her routines her clothes her horoscope, they were a shield a barrier. 

She was protecting herself. Those walls had been building for years and they were the only thing getting her through high school. 

v.

Aomine was rude and crass and just plain harsh. Anyone who had ever met him knew, that man was cruel in his apathy and indifferent in his meanness. Except that wasn't true. 

Aomine was soft. He was not cruel, he was lashing out. He was not indifferent, he was closing himself off. 

It was really not surprising. Before, he had been the most willing to move on from losing. Fitting that winning broke him. 

vi.

Murasakibara wasn't understood by others. She didn't particularly care to understand others either. After all, if people whispered about you behind your back, why would you want to befriend them? 

It was alright in Teikou because they were all weird. Surrounded by these normal people who didn't understand that basketball was not just a game, she couldn't stand it. 

vii.

Akashi was a tyrant. Then the finals happened and he changed, became kind and gracious. But that was a lie. 

Akashi was neither a tyrant nor kind. He was a leader, whether he ruled through fear or love. Others couldn’t see it, but they saw. There was something unnatural about him either way. Children did not command others like that, not unless they were broken. 

Because that was the thing. They were all broken, since long before they started high school. The cracks just changed with time. 


End file.
